XFL in the news: Week 3

As the players and coaches turn their sights to the weekend ahead, we get you caught up with all the articles you need to see before enjoying the action in Week 3.

Here’s How Much It Costs to Attend an XFL Game and Why It’s Important (The Athletic)

Bill Shea of The Athletic takes a look at the strategic pricing of tickets for an XFL game and the reasoning behind the prices for this fan-first league. Shea writes "First, the fan and industry responses have been largely positive because the football has been pretty good and the unique rules and broadcast perks are fun. Anecdotal evidence of that can be found on social media, but also in audience metrics. Attendance and TV ratings have been solid after the first eight games for a league trying to find and keep a football fanbase it hopes exists in a unique time: after the Super Bowl, during March Madness and amid the start of baseball season.

"I never want it to end": Meet the fans who could make the XFL a hit in Los Angeles (The Ringer)

Danny Heifetz of the Ringer spent last weekend at Dignity Health Sports Park, the home of the Los Angeles Wildcats, for their home opener. He writes "The L.A. Wildcats enter a crowded sports marketplace, and secondary football leagues have had difficulty finding footing in recent years. But judging by the scene at the team’s home opener on Sunday, the reincarnated XFL could be a success."

Former Chargers QB Cardale Jones glad to "finally have a chance to start" in XFL (Sports Illustrated)

DC Defenders quarterback Cardale Jones is lighting up the scoreboard for the 2-0 Defenders. Sports Illustrated's Jason B. Hirschhorn writes "Two weeks into the first season of the rebooted XFL, the DC Defenders' Cardale Jones has established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in the league. He leads the league in passing yardage and boasts a 102 rating while leading his team to back-to-back double-digit victories. Given his four years in the NFL -- two of which he spent with the Los Angeles Chargers -- Jones can reasonably claim the title of brightest star in the new football league."

The XFL becomes Football's new innovation lab- and shows you how to turn heads in the industry (Forbes)

Through the first two weeks of XFL football, the largest topic of discussion has been the rules and the broadcast setup through partners FOX and ESPN. Forbes' Don Yaeger takes a look at the innovations the XFL is making in its first year and how other leagues could follow suit. Yaeger writes "I love that last line—safer and less boring. Essentially, Oliver Luck and the XFL sat down, studied film, and came up with an answer that only a start-up culture could create. Without the restrictions of a long-established brand, the XFL didn’t feel the gravitational pull of “this is how it’s always been done” and saw an opportunity to innovate and add value that the NFL has missed."

Variety's Brian Steinberg took an inside look at the business relationship between the XFL and Bud Light for a piece this week. Steinberg writes "A start-up like the XFL probably has the leeway to test unorthodox methods. “Emerging and secondary leagues often serve as marketing laboratories, as less controversy tends to follow their revenue producing efforts,” says David Carter, a professor of sports business at USC’s Marshall School of Business."

Front Office Sports took a look at the relationship between the University of Houston and the Houston Roughnecks, who calls the university's TDECU Stadium home. Emily Caron writes "Being able to serve as the inaugural home, site, and facility for that championship game is not just about the financial impact,” deputy athletic director David Tagliarino said. “There’s tremendous value in the exposure and visibility that this will bring to the University of Houston, our campus, and our facilities. Because you’ve got kind of a new fanbase coming here. The majority of people we saw in week one was their first time down here and on our campus.”"

ESPN staff writer Kevin Seifert takes a look at two of the most interesting rule changes of the XFL, the kickoff and punting rules. The numbers show that kickoff and punt return rules are on the rise compared to the NFL. Seifert writes "Through the first eight games of the XFL's 40-game season, 90.1% of kickoffs and 63.4% of punts have been returned. Last season in the NFL, 34.1% of kickoffs and 36.2% of punts were returned."

A refugee camp, family tragedy and football: How New York Guardians RB Darius Victor overcame it all to play in the XFL (CBS Sports)

Darius Victor's road to the XFL is considered one of the most triumphant and courageous ones in the league. CBS Sports' Ben Kercheval writes "Everyone in the XFL has a story and Victor's is perhaps the most remarkable of them all. It's a story of survival. Born in March, 1994, Victor spent his first five years on this earth in a refugee camp in Africa's Ivory Coast. It's a story of senseless tragedy following the murder of Darius' older brother, Kevin, in 2011."